Yang Peng found that flintlock muskets could not be used in large-scale wars. In a war involving more than 100,000 people and cavalry, flintlock muskets were not as good as bows and arrows. Yang Peng decided that in future wars, nothing more powerful than flintlock muskets would be used. Until you get a good weapon, don't use the flintlock gun for the time being.
Guo Tongdao: "In this great defeat, our army not only suffered heavy losses, but also made the situation in Shanxi as a whole extremely unfavorable! Mengzhou, Weizhou, and Huguan in the south will not be protected. We should consider what to do next. !" Xiao Qianbuli said to Brother Ye Qianxiu: "Generalissimo, the matter has come to this. I think that Mengzhou, Weizhou and Huguan in the south should be abandoned immediately, and Taiyuan should be withdrawn. The south can no longer be defended!" Taiyuan! Zhang Xiaochun, who stayed behind, echoed repeatedly.
Brother Ye Qianxiu hesitated for a moment, nodded, and said helplessly: "It seems that this is the only way!" Then he called the messenger and ordered the troops from Mengzhou, Weizhou, and Huguan to retreat to Bingzhou immediately. . After the meeting, Zhang Xiaochun returned home and was greeted by his beautiful young wife. Zhang Xiaochun's wife is actually not his first wife, but his newly married young wife named Yu Baoer. Zhang Xiaochun's previous wife had already died in the war when the Khitans went south. This Yu Bao'er has a charming temperament and a coquettish attitude. She was originally a well-known talent advocate in Bingzhou City. Not long ago, when the two met, they fell in love with her, and soon Zhang Xiaochun married her in a sedan chair.
Zhang Xiaochun sat down and sighed. Yu Bao'er said angrily: "Why do you sigh as soon as you come back? Do you dislike the slave family?" Zhang Xiaochun held Yu Bao'er's delicate hand and said with a smile: "How could I dislike Madam!" Yu Bao'er asked in confusion. Asked: "Then why are you sighing?"
Zhang Xiaochun said: "I'm worried!" He glanced at his beautiful wife, "You may not know that not long ago, Marshal Ye Qianxiu gathered an army of 400,000 to conquer the East, intending to eliminate the Yanyun army led by Yang Peng in one fell swoop. Army!..." Yu Baoer said: "I know this!" Then his expression changed, his eyes widened and he said: "Is it possible? Is it possible that the war is difficult and it is difficult to achieve what you want?"
Zhang Xiaochun sighed, "If only this were the case! The generalissimo fought fiercely with Yanyun's army at the foot of Pingding City. The result was a huge defeat. Only 160,000 to 160,000 to 70,000 of the 400,000 soldiers and horses escaped. What a disastrous defeat!" Yu Bao'er said. He was shocked, his eyes widened and he stammered: "It's actually like this! This is so unbelievable!" After a pause, he couldn't help but said: "I have long heard that Yan Yun's army is tough and good at fighting. Originally, I thought it was just a legend, but I didn’t expect it to be so powerful!”
Zhang Xiaochun sighed, "The war in the south is also very unsatisfactory. The two generals, Hahun and Dalan, crossed the Yellow River and came out of Huguan respectively, but they were defeated one after another and retreated. Now the Yanyun army is attacking Weizhou and Huguan. The situation is not good. Wonderful! Hey, I think Shanxi may not be able to be saved!"
Yu Bao'er frowned and said to Zhang Xiaochun: "Master, now that things have come to this, you should consider a retreat!" Zhang Xiaochun was stunned, "What do you mean...?" Yu Bao'er whispered in Zhang Xiaochun's ear. Whispered. Zhang Xiaochun hesitated for a while, then slapped his thigh and said, "A gentleman will listen to his wife if he doesn't stand behind a dangerous wall!"
At this time, the news of the defeat of Brother Yeganxiu's army had spread in Bingzhou City. Some people were worried and some were happy. In pubs and teahouses, everyone is whispering about the current war. Suddenly, horses were galloping by on the street outside. Everyone thought there was a new military situation and gathered around the windows to look around. A fat scholar opened the paper fan with a snap and gloated: "It seems our generalissimo is in big trouble again!"
A thin scholar next to him raised his voice and said: "How about we have a bet?" Everyone gathered around, and the fat scholar asked with great interest: "Are you a banker? How do you gamble?" "Just bet on us. The final ownership of Taiyuan. If you bet that the Yanyun Army will enter Taiyuan before the end of the year, you will pay three for one, and if you bet that the Khitan Army can defend it, you will lose one for one! Come on, come and place your bets!"
Everyone was talking about it, and they were all a little undecided. Someone said: "The Yanyun army is so powerful that they may really enter Bingzhou before the end of the year!" Another person said: "I'm so disgusted! Don't look at how many battles Yanyun has won recently, but the Khitan army in Shanxi still has a lot of strength. One hundred thousand, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of Khitan troops from Lou Shi over there in Shaanxi, and the hundreds of thousands of Jin troops from Xiao Tianzuo on the Xijing Road in the north. If all these soldiers and horses come together, I will see enough of Yan Yun's army to drink. Damn it! If one thing is not done well, Yan Yunjun may turn victory into defeat." Many people agreed, thinking that what he said was very reasonable.
The thin scholar sitting in the village said loudly: "Stop chirping, if you want to place your bet, hurry up, come on, come on!" Everyone took out money to bet that Yan Yun's army could not enter Bingzhou. The thin scholar looked at the fat scholar and asked strangely: "Master Du, you laughed out loud, "Okay, I'll make a bet too! Then he took out a large fifty-tael silver ingot from his sleeve and put it on the table. Everyone exclaimed when they saw this. Someone made a joke about the thin scholar, "Haha, Mr. Bai is afraid that he will have to wear pants this time!" "There was a burst of laughter at the scene. However, the thin scholar asked the fat scholar with a smile: "Is Mr. Du like them? "
The fat scholar raised his chubby index finger and waved, "No! I bet Yan Yun's army can enter Taiyuan!" The thin man frowned, and everyone laughed, saying that Mr. Du must have miscalculated this time. The thin scholar glared at the fat scholar and asked, "Do you really want to bet on this? Don't blame me if you lose!"
"I'm willing to admit defeat, no wonder!" The thin scholar had no choice but to write a pledge and handed it to the fat scholar, angrily saying: "Put it away!" The fat scholar put the pledge into his arms and said with a smile. : "Of course you have to keep it, this is one hundred taels of silver!" The thin scholar was extremely angry.
There was a sudden noise at the stairs. Everyone followed the sound and saw a dozen soldiers coming up followed by an officer. As soon as the officer came up, he shouted: "Who is here discussing state affairs?" Everyone was silent and only looked at the fat scholar. The fat scholar walked up to the officer, waving his folding fan, raised his chin and said proudly: "Isn't it allowed for us to drink and gamble?"
When the officer saw the fat scholar, he quickly changed his face, clasped his fists respectfully and said, "It turns out to be Mr. Du, I'm sorry for you!" The fat scholar said angrily: "We are all fellow villagers, so we don't need to be so serious and just go by carelessly. That's enough!" "Yes, yes, Mr. Du said yes!" The fat scholar took out a small piece of broken silver and threw it to the officer, "I'll treat you to tea with this bit of silver!" The officer quickly took the silver and bowed. He bowed and said, "Thank you, Master! I won't disturb the Master's pleasure. I'll take my leave!" The fat scholar waved his hand, and the officer turned around and said loudly: "It's just a few young masters drinking and gambling. Nothing to do. Let's go!" He led his soldiers downstairs.
A young man said happily: "Thanks to Mr. Du, otherwise we would be in big trouble!" Another young man flattered him: "Master Du is Mr. Du's son. Naturally, these little minions don't dare to be presumptuous. Shit!" It turns out that this fat scholar surnamed Du is the son of Taiyuan Changshi Du Cheng. No wonder the patrols saw him as if they were seeing their master's pug.
His eyes turned to Huguan. The roar of the cannons shook the sky, and Huguan was shaking under the bombardment of the cannons. Fortunately, the Khitan army had specially reinforced the city wall of Huguan before, just to deal with Yanyun's cannons. Otherwise, the city wall of Huguan would have been destroyed long ago! Da Lan's general Echuan rushed to Da Lan and said, "General, if this continues, the city wall will collapse sooner or later. Once the city wall collapses, this Hu Pass will definitely not be able to be defended!"
Dallan frowned and said nothing. Seeing this, Erchuan continued: "General, why don't you abandon Huguan!" Dalan said angrily: "Do you think I am willing to stay here? But the Generalissimo's military order is heavy. If I evacuate without authorization, I am afraid that this will happen. We can't save even one head!" Erchuan said: "We couldn't resist the defeat and retreated, so the Generalissimo can't blame us for this!"
Dalan hesitated. At this moment, an officer rushed in and reported: "General, the Generalissimo's messenger is here!" Dalan hurriedly asked. The officer ran down, and after a while he led a dusty officer in. Da Lan recognized the person who came, it was an officer who was a soldier beside Brother Ye Qianxiu. When the messenger saw Da Lai, he immediately bowed and said, "I have met the General!" "No need to be polite. Does the Generalissimo have an order for me?"
The messenger quickly took out the letter and presented it with both hands. Dalan took the letter, opened it, read it again, showed surprise, and asked the messenger: "Why did the Generalissimo suddenly order me to abandon Huguan and evacuate to Taiyuan? By the way, how was the battle between the Generalissimo and King Yan? Already?"
The messenger hesitated for a moment, "To be honest, the battle is over. Our army was defeated and most of the 400,000 soldiers and horses were lost!" Dalan and Echuan couldn't help but turned pale when they heard this. Dalan asked anxiously: " Are you telling the truth?" The messenger said: "How dare you talk nonsense about such a thing! The reason why the general marshal ordered the general to withdraw from the state was actually because he wanted to surrender the bail and annex the state! As far as I know, the general also ordered the general to withdraw to the state. The troops from Zhouzhou and Weizhou have also withdrawn to Bingzhou! The order has been sent, General, please act according to the order immediately!"
Dalan came to his senses and said quickly: "That's natural! Please report back to the Generalissimo, and I will return to Bingzhou as quickly as possible!" The messenger responded, bowed to Dalan, and left. Erchuan said in disbelief: "I didn't expect that our army of 400,000 soldiers would be defeated by the opponent's 200,000 soldiers and horses! Now the situation is serious!"
Da Lan waved his hand and said, "Don't worry too much. We still have hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses in Shanxi. In addition, there are also a large number of soldiers and horses in Shaanxi and Xijing Road. There should be no problem in surrendering to Taiyuan! Send the order immediately and prepare. Retreat! Burn all the baggage and supplies that cannot be taken away, don't leave them to Yan Yun's army!" "Yes!" Erchuan promised and ran down.
There was chaos in Huguan, the retreat order had been issued, and everyone couldn't wait to leave this place. While Dalan issued the order to retreat, he also ordered his general Echuan to remove all the supplies stored in Longde Mansion, and burn those that could not be moved. The Khitan army looted the Longde Mansion. The whole night, there was chaos in Longde Mansion. The Khitan army soldiers broke into all the houses, took away valuables and young women, and hacked and killed the people who were trembling with fear, crying and shouting. The sound was extremely sad. The child sat beside his father's body and cried. The old man wanted to take back his daughter who was snatched away by the Khitan soldiers, but was mercilessly hacked to the ground. Every household was a miserable scene.
The next morning, Dalian, who had just retreated to Tunliu County, suddenly received the news that Yan Yun's army had entered Huguan. This surprised Dalian. He left an army behind and gave instructions for three days. Then they retreated, but they didn't expect that they actually ran away after just one night!
The news of Yan Yunjun's pursuit frightened Da Lanjun, who was carrying a large bag of belongings and a young woman. They threw away the bulky belongings and the robbed woman, and ran for their lives faster. The abandoned belongings were all over the mountains and plains. All of them, the young men and women who finally escaped the disaster fled into the nearby mountains and forests. After a long time, when they saw the Yan Yun army chasing after them, they did not dare to come out.
In the evening of that day, the Khitan army fled to Taipingyi, which is more than 40 miles north of Tunliu, and was still more than 20 miles away from the Weisheng army. Dallan decided to take a short rest here. The army rested, lit a fire to cook, and the scene was full of commotion. A soldier brought a large piece of cooked beef to Dalai Lama and asked him to enjoy it. Dallan took the beef and wolfed it down as he was already extremely hungry.
"No, the Yanyun Army is catching up!" A panicked cry suddenly rang out. The Khitan Army soldiers who had just started eating hurriedly looked to the south. They saw smoke and dust swirling under the sunset, and there was a faint sound of thunder from a distance. came. The Khitan army officers and soldiers were shocked and threw away their food and fled for their lives. The scene was chaotic. At this time, Dalan didn't care about organizing his army to fight, so he got on his horse in a panic and ran away for his life.
Twenty thousand Yanyun war cavalry caught up with the Khitan army's infantry like a whirlwind and swept across them, killing them till they were left with howling ghosts and corpses all over the field! ... Dalan led 60,000 to 70,000 war cavalry and finally escaped into the Wei Sheng army. At this time, his infantry was completely wiped out.
Wei Shengjun, who was in charge of Chen Long, was shocked and confused when he saw Dalan's army in such a mess. Immediately I received news that nearly 300,000 Yanyun troops led by General Yanyun Han Bing had entered Huguan, passed Longde Mansion, and were heading this way. They were immediately frightened to death. Just when he was at a loss, the soldiers suddenly came to report that Dalan's army, which had just entered the city, had left Wei Sheng's army and fled north. Chen Long couldn't help but cursed. At this moment, an officer came to report that Yanyun's forward cavalry was approaching the city! Chen Long hesitated for a moment, then personally held the official seal and led his soldiers out to surrender.
Like a frightened bird, Dalan ran all the way, passing through Xitang Town, crossing Hujia Mountain, passing through Nanguan Town, and arrived at Pantuo Town. At this time, two days had passed since Dallan and the others escaped from the Weisheng Army. I felt relieved when I found that Yan Yunjun was no longer chasing me. Dallan thought about the current situation and felt that Pantuo Town was not a place to stay for a long time, so he only rested here for one night and left Pantuo Town early the next morning and rushed to Bingzhou City.
At about the same time, Xiao Hahun's army of more than 200,000 troops was heavily surrounded by Yan Yun's army at the eastern foot of Wuling Mountain. How is this going? It turned out that Xiao Hahun's headquarters was originally located in Weizhou, more than 200 miles south of Huguan, and was fighting a fierce battle with more than 100,000 Yanyun troops crossing the river. At this moment, the news of Brother Yeqianxiu's defeat and the order to withdraw the troops came at the same time. came. The Harun army was panicked and retreated overnight. However, the various Khitan armies did not coordinate their retreat well. The Khitan army by the Yellow River should have retreated first, and then Dalan's army could retreat. But in reality, Dalan gave up Huguan and ran away first. So Han Bing's nearly 300,000 troops passed through Huguan and occupied Longde Mansion. He then continued to pursue Dalan with 20,000 light cavalry, but the main force turned to the west, cutting off Xiao Hahun's retreat in one fell swoop.
Xiao Hahun discovered that a large number of Yanyun troops appeared on the retreat. He was so shocked that he did not bother to investigate carefully. He immediately launched a fierce attack and tried to break through the obstacle. At this moment, he did not know that nearly 300,000 Yanyun troops appeared in front. After several fierce battles, Xiao Hahun's troops suffered heavy losses, but failed to make any progress. Instead, they lost a key high ground. Only then did Hahun realize that the enemy in front of him turned out to be nearly three soldiers led by Han Bing. One hundred thousand Yanyun troops. After learning of this situation, Xiao Ha and his generals panicked and wanted to turn west and escape through Wuling Mountain. But at this moment, Yang Yanzhao led an army of 120,000 people to the battlefield. At the same time, he used an elite force to occupy the Wuling Mountain Canyon first, completely cutting off the hope of Xiao Hahun's troops to escape.
Xiao Hahun, who was trapped in a tight siege, did not give up. On the one hand, he relied on the terrain to build a defense line, and on the other hand, he kept sending people to Xiao Salihe and Dalan for rescue. Yang Yanzhao and Han Bing met and exchanged greetings. Then Han Bing asked Yang Yanzhao to take a seat, but Yang Yanzhao insisted that Han Bing take a seat. Finally, Han Bing laughed and said: "We are all military generals, why should we be so polite! Just feel free to do it!" After saying that, he sat down on the right side. Yang Yanzhao smiled and sat down on the left side opposite. The generals under both sides sat down one after another under them.
Han Bing said: "Now that Xiao Ha's subordinate is already a turtle in the urn, what should we do next?" Yang Yanzhao smiled and said: "General Han must have already figured it out!"
Han Bing smiled slightly, "Although Xiao Hahun's troops are surrounded, they still have fighting spirit. Therefore, it is not appropriate to rush to attack at this time. Attacking at this time will kill ten thousand enemies and lose seven thousand. It is not a good deal!" Yang Yanzhao agreed! He nodded, "What General Han said is absolutely true! The Khitan army at this time is a trapped beast. It is the craziest time, not the time to attack!" After a pause, "But the Khitan army at this time is very likely to use all its strength. The intention of the assault is to break out of the tight encirclement. We should be more vigilant and take precautions. Don't let the cooked duck fly!" "Yes, I think so too. We invited General Yang to come to meet us today just to coordinate the actions. The details have been agreed!" Yang Yanzhao smiled boldly and said: "There is no need to bother about this matter. I will just follow General Han's command! As long as General Han has military orders, I will definitely obey them!" Han Bing cupped his fists and said, "Thank you very much, Yang. General!"
Yang Yanzhao cupped his fists and said, "Please give the order to General Han!" Han Bing said, "The Khitan army has only two ways to get out of trouble. One is to go north and break through the Fucheng stronghold, and the other is to wade eastward and break through our Qinshui military stronghold. These two places are my troops and horses, and the defense is naturally done by our army. Please ask General Yang to attack the opponent's flank and rear when he breaks through the defense with all his strength, and make it difficult for him to look at the head and tail!" Yang Yanzhao clicked. Nodding, "This arrangement is the most appropriate! But we cannot take it lightly in the Wuling Mountain Valley! I want to add 10,000 infantry to guard the valley, so that everything is safe!" Han Bing nodded and said: "That's it! "
At this moment, military discussions were also taking place in the Khitan army's large tent. Xiao Hahun frowned and said: "The situation is extremely critical now. We must break the encirclement as soon as possible! Otherwise, even if the enemy does not come to attack, our food and grass will not be able to sustain it for long!" All the generals looked worried, and the general shouted with worry: "The Yanyun Army is extremely powerful, and now its strength is twice that of mine. Can we break their blockade?"
Xiao Hahun said flatly: "We must break even if we can't break it! Otherwise we will only have a dead end! Do the warriors of Daliao Kingdom have to sit back and wait to die and be slaughtered by others?" Xiao Hahun's last words made the generals involuntarily ignite their fighting spirit. . The general King Longhu said excitedly: "Please give me the general order!" Other generals also stood up and asked for battle: "Please give the general order!"
Xiao Hahun was very satisfied with the performance of the generals, and he couldn't help but feel a little confident in his heart. He said: "I decided to concentrate my efforts eastward, wade into the shoals to break through the opponent's Qinshui army stronghold, and escape! He Nian, you lead a group of The troops and horses are feinting towards Fucheng Village to contain the Yanyun Army in the north." Xiao Henian promised, "King Longhu, lead your troops and horses to defend the South Village! If my estimate is correct, when our army attacks Qin During the Shuijun Stronghold, Yang Yanzhao from the south will definitely attack, so you must defend the Southern Stronghold for me!" "Yes!"
Xiao Hahun glanced at the generals, "Are there any questions?" The generals said in unison: "No problem!" "Very good, let's go down and get ready!" The generals bowed to Hahun and filed away. The big account was opened.
Xiao Hahun closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, feeling very heavy. The situation in front of him made him feel out of breath. This was the first time since he joined the army, and perhaps the first time since the rise of the Liao Kingdom. The curtain suddenly opened, and a soldier officer led a veteran officer in and rushed in anxiously, reporting: "General, the messenger is back!" Xiao Harun immediately opened his eyes and saw what he had sent out before. The messenger who asked for help hurriedly asked: "Has General Sa Lihe come to support?"
The messenger reported: "Reporting to the general, General Sa Lihe is afraid that he will not be able to come. After his army retreated to Jiangxian County, it was forced by Yang Dezheng's army and could not escape. It is difficult to protect himself!" Ha Hun frowned. He murmured: "From this point of view, we can only hope to be lazy!"
The messenger hesitated for a moment and said, "My subordinates heard a rumor on the road about General Dalan, but I don't know whether it is true or not." "Oh? Tell me!" "My subordinates heard that, I heard that Da Lan General Lazy withdrew from Hu Pass a long time ago, but was chased by Yan Yun's cavalry and suffered heavy casualties, and now he has already escaped without a trace!"
Xiao Hahun was shocked, but after thinking about it, he felt that this rumor might be true, because if not, where did Han Bing's hundreds of thousands of troops come from? Xiao Hahun had actually speculated that Da Lan's headquarters might have encountered a big problem, but he had always had illusions in his heart, hoping that Han Bing's army would come from a path they didn't know and cut off their retreat! Now that I heard the news of Dalan's defeat, my illusions were completely shattered. "It seems we can only rely on ourselves!" Harun murmured, feeling particularly heavy.
What happened after all, let’s see what happens next.
